A Troyella Story: Inseperable
by AmyAllison
Summary: I'm awful at summaries! Troy and Gabriella met on holiday as kids, but when Gabriella moves house nine years later, will they remember each other?
1. Recognition

Mrs Montez smiled as her seven year old daughter ran towards the sea, hand-in-hand with her new best friend. His name was Troy and in the fortnight that they had been in Spain, Gabriella had become completely besotted with this little boy – and he had taken to her too. They had spent every spare moment together.

She smiled as her daughters long brown hair, flew as she chased Troy, water splashing everywhere. She heard Troy call out in surprise as Gabriella took the bucket she used for sandcastles, filled it with water and dumped it over Troy's head. She heard Gabriella laughing as she ran away, but Troy caught up with her, pulled her down and kicked water over Gabriella. Mrs Montez was in complete bliss. Spain was definitely the best holiday that she had ever had – she was happy and more importantly, so was her daughter.

* * *

**Nine Years Later…**

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Montez, took a long drink of her ice-cold lemonade and sank into a kitchen chair. She let out a deep sigh and wiped her damp forehead with her hand.

"Are you finished unpacking?" her mother asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Not yet." Gabriella admitted, her face flushed. "Nearly." She took another sip of her drink.

Mrs Montez nodded at her daughter. "Okay, honey."

She grabbed a box from the counter and went back into the living room.

Gabriella sighed again and rested her head in her hands for a few minutes.

'I could sleep for a million years…' she thought to herself, but summoning all her strength, she stood up and walked back upstairs to her room, grabbed an un-opened box and began to unpack.

Mrs Montez had been transferred to work in Albuquerque, and had to move house. Gabriella had taken the new okay, had seemed happy enough to start at a new school. She couldn't be more proud of her daughter's maturity at handling the situation.

Later that night, Gabriella flung herself on her newly-made bed.

"Finally!" she muttered. "I'm finished!"

She rolled over in her bed, falling straight asleep with all of her clothes on.

Mrs Montez walked in the room and smiled when she saw her daughter fast asleep on top of her bed. She walked over to Gabriella and removed her shoes, kissed her on the cheek and then switched off the purple lamp beside her bed. Then, she left the room.

* * *

Two days later, Gabriella walked up the steps and into her new school, East High.

'Woah.' She thought, looking round at the hundreds of students, the whiteness of the walls and lockers, the thousands of fliers posted everywhere, advertising clubs and events. She thought back to her old school where clubs hadn't been such a big deal and the walls certainly needed some new coats of paint. 'This is certainly… different.'

From her interview with the principal yesterday, she had in her hand the single most important piece of paper that she'd need today: her timetable and her locker number.

'But where is my locker?' she thought, staring at the numbers on the lockers in front of her. She kept walking when suddenly, she walked right into someone.

"Ohmygosh! I'm sorry!" Gabriella apologized.

A girl with long, blonde hair and a bright pink outfit turned around to face her.

"It's no problem." She smiled. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around before."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, my name is Gabriella."

"And I'm Sharpay." The girl stuck out a perfectly manicured hand for Gabriella to shake. Gabriella shook her hand.

"Can I help you with anything?" Sharpay asked, "You seem kind of lost."

"Yeah." Gabriella said gratefully. "Do you know where locker seven is?"

"I do." Sharpay replied cheerfully. "Come on."

She led Gabriella down a bunch of hallways until they eventually came to a locker, fully equipped with textbooks.

"Thanks so much!" Gabriella smiled, putting her bag in her locker. "And do you know where classroom 102 is?"

Sharpay laughed and pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. "That one."

Gabriella laughed too. "Thanks."

"No problem." Sharpay grinned. "I have to go meet my boyfriend, I'll catch you later!"

"Bye!" Gabriella waved as Sharpay walked away. She took some books out of her locker, along with her writing supplies. Suddenly, the bell rang, causing her to jump a little and drop a couple of pens. She picked them up and walked into the classroom. She was the first person in.

* * *

The bell rang, causing Troy Bolton to stop kissing Sharpay. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her waist instead.

"Come on." He sighed. "Let's get to class."

Sharpay pulled away, smiling. "I can't, I don't have my books yet. I was helping out a new girl this morning." She began walking quickly away, heading for her locker. "I'll meet you in class!"

Troy nodded and made his way to his English class. There was only one person in the room, a petit girl with long brown hair, standing by the teacher's desk.

She turned around to face him and when their eyes met, it was like a bolt of electricity passing through them.

* * *

'Oh. My. God.' Gabriella thought, staring into the boys eyes. A chill passed through her body and she just knew that he felt it too. He opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a short, rounded woman, squeezing past him.

"Mr Bolton! Would you kindly stop blocking the doorway and head back to your seat?" she paused looking at Gabriella. "And you would be?"

"My name is Gabriella Montez, I'm a new student." Gabriella said, the spell between herself and the mystery boy broken. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he moved into a seat at the back. She turned around to face the teacher but could feel his eyes on her.

"I'm Mrs Darbus." The teacher explained. "Welcome to my class Miss Montez. You can sit there, in front of Troy Bolton."

Gabriella nodded and made her way to her selected seat, just as the class began to fill with people, including Sharpay who smiled warmly at Gabriella and then took a seat next to Troy.

* * *

'Aw man,' Troy thought, his eyes still on Gabriella. 'Where have I seen her before?'


	2. Phonecalls

"That was the strangest thing ever

"That was the strangest thing ever!" Gabriella thought, opening her notebook at a blank page. "I'm sure I've seen that guy before!"

She spent the rest of the period furiously searching her brain for some clue at where she'd seen the boy before.

'You'd think I'd remember his eyes!' Gabriella thought, slumping in her seat. 'They're so blue!'

The bell rang, signaling the end of first period. She stuffed her notebook in her bag and stood up to leave.

"Hey, Gabriella?" a voice said behind her.

She turned around to find Sharpay smiling. "What class are you at? Can I help you find it?"

"That would be great." Gabriella smiled back gratefully. "I'm at chemistry." She checked her timetable. "Room 203."

"That's where Troy is!" Sharpay exclaimed. "I'm at art but Troy will help you. Right, Troy?"

Troy nodded. "Sure."

The three of them left the classroom. Sharpay gave Troy a quick kiss before heading off in the opposite direction.

"So your name is Gabriella?" Troy asked, hoping to make small talk.

"Yeah." Gabriella said. "And you're Troy."

Troy nodded. "Um, where did you move from?"

"New York." Gabriella said.

"Woah, I'm jealous!" Troy smiled. "I'd love to go to New York! They have excellent basketball over there."

"They also have excellent shops!" Gabriella grinned.

'Wow, his eyes are amazing!' she thought to herself, secretly admiring him. 'But I can't like him! He's dating Sharpay.'

"This is us." Troy said, stopping outside a classroom. "You go ahead, I'm waiting for my friends."

Gabriella nodded and entered the room, sneaking one last look at Troy's piercing blue eyes.

Gabriella was relieved when the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. She hated starting a new school. She didn't like much attention and all the curious looks made her shy and nervous.

She opened her locker and took some things out.

"Gabriella." Sharpay's girly voice was unmistakable – she had heard it all day.

Gabriella shut her locker and turned to face Sharpay. "What's up?"

"I'm having a party Friday night. If you come, it might be a good place to make some friends."

Gabriella smiled at her. "Maybe. I'm not sure if I'm up for a party yet."

Sharpay nodded and scribbled something on a piece of bright pink notebook paper. "Well, here's my number. Call me anytime!" She waved goodbye and walked quickly away in her heels towards Troy who was waiting for her at the end of the hallway.

Gabriella put the piece of paper in her pocket and exited the building. She had to walk home alone, at least until she made some new friends.

Later that night, Gabriella was sitting in her room talking to her best friend from her old school on the phone.

"So, did you make any new friends?" Valerie asked.

"Kind of." Gabriella replied, kicking off her shoes. "There was this one girl who helped me find my classes and stuff."

"And, any guys?" Valerie asked. Gabriella could tell she was smiling at the other end of the phone.

"Well, that's the weird thing! There was one guy-"

"Cute?" Valerie asked, interrupting Gabriella.

"Unbelievably." Gabriella replied. "But the thing is, I've seen him somewhere before."

"Are you sure you've not seen someone who looks like him?" Valerie questioned.

"No, I'm positive it was him." Gabriella asked. "But it's driving me crazy trying to remember!"

"Keep thinking, you'll probably work it out soon." Valerie encouraged. "Keep me posted, okay?"

"I will." Gabriella promised.

Troy was also in his room, attempting to do his algebra homework but his mind kept drifting back to the brown-haired, dark-eyed girl he met today.

'What's her name again?' he thought to himself. 'Gabriella something… Gabriella Montez. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before…'

The phone rang, making him jump a little and interrupting his thoughts. He pressed the Speaker button.

"Hello?"

"Hey Babe!" it was Sharpay, sounding cheerful.

"Hey honey." Troy said. "What's up?"

"I'm just making last-minute party plans. Can you bring some alcohol?"

"Yeah, I think I can get some." Troy said, ripping a piece of paper from his notebook.

"Yay! I'm so excited!" Sharpay giggled. "I'll see you tomorrow baby."

She hung up and Troy went back to his homework, Gabriella still on his mind.

"You need pairs for your chemistry project." Mr Ferguson, Gabriella's teacher droned. "Now to make things fair, I've put your names in a hat and I'll choose your partner by picking randomly. This means there shouldn't be any problems this time."

He put his hand in the hat and began reading out names.

Gabriella listened closely, secretly hoping for Troy so that she could look at his eyes all day.

Troy was staring out of the window, in direction of the outside basketball courts, wishing that he was there right now, running around the court, sweaty and in the zone.

"Troy Bolton…" Mr Ferguson said, interrupting his thoughts.

Troy sat up straighter, hoping for Chad as his partner. Both Chad and Jason were in his class but Jason wasn't exactly Einstein.

"And Gabriella Montez." Mr Ferguson announced.

'How lucky was that?' Gabriella thought triumphantly to herself. She turned around to glance at Troy who gave her a nod and a smile. She turned around to face the front of the class again, not letting Troy see that her cheeks were a little red.

'He's so cute!' she thought to herself. 'But I can't like him, he's dating Sharpay!'


	3. Shopping

"Gabriella, wait up!"

Troy quickly caught up with Gabriella in the school hallway, narrowly avoiding being hit in the face by her long, hair, swinging around in unison with her body movements.

"Oh, Troy!" Gabriella said, surprised. "What's up?"

"It was just… Uhh…" Troy momentarily forgot what he was going to say; he was transfixed by her beautiful brown curls, coming to rest below her shoulders and her huge brown eyes. He gave a brief shake of his head and opened his mouth to speak again. "The science project. It's just that, Chad wants to work with me, so would you mind switching partners?"

A feeling of bitter disappointment settled in Gabriella's tummy. "No, of course not." She lied. "Who am I working with now?"

"Her name is Taylor McKessie." Troy said. "I think you'll like her."

Suddenly, a crowd of boys appeared, almost out of nowhere and began dragging Troy away.

"Come on Dude! Basketball practice!" one said, shoving his watch in front of Troy's eyes.

Troy nodded and gave Gabriella an apologetic smile as he was pulled away. He mouthed something, which Gabriella thought might have been "Catch you later."

* * *

When Gabriella got home that day, she found her Mom in the kitchen, smiling at a large book.

"What's that?" Gabriella asked, opening the refrigerator and taking out a bottle of Diet Pepsi. She closed the fridge and walked over to her Mom.

"It's an old photo album." Her Mom explained. "I found loads of them in one of the moving boxes!"

Gabriella glanced down to see a picture of herself, four years old on a garden swing, hair flying, eyes shining. Four-year-old Gabriella was completely oblivious to the world around her, it was just her and the swing. What Gabriella liked about that picture was that her Dad was also in it, standing behind the swing, laughing.

Gabriella felt a sharp pang in her heart – her Dad had died five years earlier of a brain tumor. She still missed him and thought about him everyday.

"Want to look at some more with me?" Mrs Montez smiled.

"No." Gabriella shook her head. "I think I'm just gonna go upstairs."

Mrs Montez nodded and Gabriella left the kitchen.

She turned the page in a photo album and a smile lit up her face.

It was another picture of Gabriella, again, not alone. This time, she was standing by a crystal blue swimming pool with a young boy, bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. The boy had his arm around her neck and they were both holding a huge inflatable shark and pulling a funny face.

"Ahh!" Mrs Montez cooed out loud, grinning at the memories. "What was his name again?"

She pulled the picture out of the album, and turned it over to see the back of it. There, in her handwriting, read: Gabriella and Troy Bolton by the pool, Benidorm, Spain.

"Troy Bolton." She murmured. "I wonder what happened to that boy?"

* * *

Gabriella, in her room, was pulling clothes from her closet, trying do decide what to wear to Sharpay's party on Friday night.

'Urgh!' she thought to herself, holding up a light blue dress against her petit body and tanned skin. 'I look like a little kid!'

She grabbed her purse and ran downstairs to find her Mom.

"Can I have the car keys?" she begged. "I need to go to the mall!"

Her Mom nodded and passed her the keys. Gabriella ran for the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to see these pictures? There's some gorgeous ones of you and-"

"No thanks!" Gabriella called, slamming the door behind her.

"Troy." Mrs Montez finished. She sighed and put the photographs back in the box.

* * *

Gabriella, once in the huge department store in the mall, headed straight for the Women's Clothes section. She lost herself in a pile of colorful sweaters.

"Gabriella?" a voice said.

She stood up straight and turned around to see who the voice belonged to. She found herself staring into a familiar pair of bright blue eyes.

"Troy!" she exclaimed, happy to see him. "What are you doing here?" she waved her hands in a gesture to symbolize how big the store was but accidentally smacked Troy right in the face.

"Oh! Ohmigod! I am so sorry!" Gabriella's face turned bright red in embarrassment. If only there was a hole in the ground that would just swallow her up.

Troy rubbed his cheek a little. "It's okay." He laughed. "But have you ever thought about joining a wrestling team or something, because that was quite a punch!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes again and reached up to touch Troy's red cheek. "Seriously, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Troy laughed at the concerned look in Gabriella's eyes.

Suddenly, there was an awkward silence. Gabriella was touching Troy's cheek and they were staring in each other's eyes, anyone who didn't know them would have mistaken them as a couple. Gabriella gave a little cough and removed her hand.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked again, desperate to make conversation.

"I'm getting Sharpay's birthday present but I have no idea what she would like! I'm terrible at shopping for girls." Troy admitted. "Help me?"

Gabriella smiled at the begging look on Troy's gorgeous face. "Sure, but I don't know Sharpay that well."

"Yeah, but you're a girl." Troy pointed out. "I know Sharpay well and you know what a girl would wear. I think we could make a good team!"

Gabriella laughed and nodded and then pointed out some cute floral-print dresses.

Thirty minutes later, Troy and Gabriella were laughing hysterically at a joke Troy had made about his basketball team-mates.

"Hey, I didn't know shopping could be fun," Troy admitted when he had stopped laughing. "But with you it is! We make a good team."

Gabriella nodded in agreement. "Yeah, after this we should solve crimes."

Troy laughed again and held up their chosen items. "So we have the pink dress, the white sweater and the silver heels."

"I like the heels." Gabriella said seriously. "I think they're gorgeous and I'm sure Sharpay will too."

Troy nodded. "Then I'll get her the heels. What about you?"

"What about me?" Gabriella asked.

"What am I getting you?" Troy smiled.

"Don't be silly, I don't want anything!" Gabriella protested, flattered.

"It's the least I could do for you after you helped me!" Troy argued. "Now, choose something!"

"No!" Gabriella argued back, arms crossed and a defiant pout across her face. "Don't you dare buy me anything!"

Troy reached over and picked up a white handbag that Gabriella admired earlier.

"Troy, put that back." Gabriella said.

"Who says I'm buying it for you?" Troy laughed. "Maybe I like it for me!"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh as Troy stuck his tongue out at her and ran for the empty space at the cash register. The cashier smiled at the couple standing in front of her.

"What a nice boyfriend you have." She smiled at Gabriella. "Can I keep him?"

Gabriella blushed a little. "Oh, he's not-"

The cashier flushed a little too. "Oh, sorry." She handed Troy the bag and his receipt. "Have a nice day."

"Well, I should go." Gabriella said, once Troy and herself had left the shop.

"I've just realized that you didn't buy anything!" Troy exclaimed. "Have I completely ruined your shopping trip?"

Gabriella smiled at him. "No, not all. In fact, you made it more fun!"

Troy smiled back and handed Gabriella the white handbag. "Here."

"You really didn't have to do that." Gabriella said, taking the bag off him.

"I wanted to." Troy said, a little shyly.

"Thanks." Gabriella said. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow? At school and then at the party?"

"Oh, you're going?" Troy said, his eyes lighting up. "Save me a dance?"

Gabriella giggled. "Sure your girlfriend won't mind?"

Troy grinned. "I'm sure she can handle it."

Gabriella turned to walk away and gave him a wave. "Bye!"

"Bye Gabby!" Troy called after her.

* * *

Later that night, in her room, Gabriella was lying in her bed going over today's events in her head.

'He called me Gabby!' she thought. 'He gave me a nickname!'

She beamed happily and looked over at the white handbag propped up against the wall.

Although happy about the fact that she was now a little closer to Troy, Gabriella couldn't help feeling guilty about the fact that she and Troy were flirting today when he was steadily dating her new friend.

'I don't want to hurt Sharpay.' Gabriella thought, her smile disappearing. She rolled over in her bed to face the wall and tried to sleep.

Gabriella didn't have a chance to go to the mall again before Friday – she had to make do with the outfits she had.

On Friday night, Gabriella pulled on a black glittery dress – nothing too special but she didn't really have anything else. She fastened her black strappy heels and adjusted her big brown curls.

Being extra careful, she applied some mascara and eyeliner, and slid on some strawberry lip gloss.

There was a knock on the door and her mother entered.

"Oh, Gabsy!" she gasped. "You look beautiful!"

"Mooom!" Gabriella rolled her eyes but smiled as she was pulled into a hug. "Thanks."

After a few pictures were taken – much to Gabriella's protest, she left the house and climbed into her Mom's car. She glanced at herself in the mirror one last time before pulling away from the house.

'Here we go!' Gabriella smiled to herself. 'Party time!'

She turned on the radio and began driving to Sharpay's.


	4. Party Time!

"Gabriella! You made it!" Sharpay Evans - the birthday girl - squealed and hugged the surprised brunette standing in the doorway.  
"Hey Sharpay!" Gabriella breathed, squashed in the hug.  
When Sharpay pulled away, Gabriella handed her an envelope in which contained a birthday card and a gift card for a popular fashion botique at the mall.  
"Come in!" Sharpay cried, taking Gabriella's hand and pulling her into the main room.

Gabriella gasped. She was shocked, not only by the number of people there was in the room but by the way the room was decorated! It was very dark, with only strobe disco lights illuminating the huge dancefloor. A few tiny spotlights hit the huge food table. Bright rainbow coloured balloons filled the room, each baring the logo SE - Sharpay Evans. Glittery banners and signs were stuck to the wall and a huge collage of various pictures of Sharpay was somehow projected onto the ceiling.  
Sharpay''s parties were THE social event on Albuquerque, relationships formed and many ended, friendships were tested and there were countless tales of virginities being lost - most people under the influence of alcohol. And the part that attracted teenagers to Sharpay's parties the most? No parents.

Gabriella glanced around the room casually, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain someone and oh, there he was! Troy Bolton, wildcat superstar, Mr Popular, school hottie, everyone's best friend was standing alone at the food table?  
gabriella briefly wondered whether to approach him. Sharpay was on the other side of the room, surrounded by a huge group of people, so what could it hurt? She began walking over to Troy, who seemed so lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey Bolton." Gabriella said, feeling that familiar, recognition pang that she had gotten so used to feeling whenever she looked at Troy.  
"Hey, Montez!" Troy's face broke into a smile when his shopping buddy and new friend appeared beside him. He gave her a welcoming hug on a spur-of-the-moment decision, which gave Troy butterflies in his stomach and left Gabriella weak at the knees.  
"Not Mr. Popular tonight?" Gabriella asked teasingly?  
"Nope." Troy answered. "The guys were driving up here in the minivan but they got stuck in traffic."  
"Too bad." Gabriella said sympathetically.  
Troy nodded. "I'd hang with Shar but she's doing her own thing and she's barely noticed me this evening!"  
Troy seemed to realize that he had said too much. He let out a weak cough to disguise the awkward silence between them.  
"Come on Montez, let's dance." Troy suddenly said, sounding more cheerful.  
"Okay." Gabriella smiled. As Troy took her hand, a jot of electricity ran through her body and she was 100 certain that Troy had felt it too.

* * *

Sharpay emerged from the kitchen to find a huge crowd gathered on the dancefloor.  
"What's going on?" she smiled, pushing her way to the front of the crowd.  
Sharpay felt a sharp pang in her heart as she watched her boyfriend dancing with Gabriella. They danced well together, amazingly well. But what upset Shar the most was that Troy looked happier dancing with Gabriella than he had ever looked dancing with Sharpay.  
Troy caught Sharpay's eye and gave her a huge grin. Sharpay smiled back, a little sadly.

* * *

"Ohmygod!" Gabriella said breathlessly when they had stopped dancing. "I need a drink!"  
They walked over to the food table where Gabriella took a long sip of Diet Pepsi.  
"You are so unfit!" Troy teased. "You should come and play one-on-one with me in the gym sometime."  
"As much as I'd like to, I really don't want to!" Gabriella laughed. "Besides, we both know that you'd win!"  
"Troy." Sharpay appeared as if from nowhere and motioned to her boyfriend. "Can I talk to you for a second please?"  
Troy nodded and followed Sharpay up a flight of stairs.  
Gabriella stood alone, wondering who she could talk to. Suddenly, she caught sight of Taylor McKessie, the shy girl she was partners with in chemistry. She made her way over to her, slightly worrying what Sharpay was telling Troy upstairs.

* * *

"So I come back from the kitchen to find you dancing and flirting with her?" Sharpay exclaimed indignantly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean Troy?"  
Troy stared at his feet sheepishly. "Nothing."  
As fearless and masculine as Troy Bolton was, he hated it when people were mad at him. Usually, he was the first to cave in and apologize in an argument.  
"Urgh! I can't even look at you right now!" Sharpay cried. "I just... I need you to leave me alone for a while!"  
Troy did as he was told. He left the room and went back downstairs. He grabbed a can of beer and sank into a sofa, sipping it bitterly and feeling sorry for himself.  
"Heyy." Gabriella sat herself down beside him but her happy smile turned into a worried frown when she saw the look on Troy's face. "What? What is it?" she asked.  
"Sharpay and I are fighting." Troy said emotionlessly, and took a long gulp of his beer.  
"Oh?" Gabriella said, hopefully. Realizing how she sounded, she let out out a cough. "Oh?" she said again, in a more casual way.  
"Yeah." Troy sighed. He finished the can and reached for another one.  
"Don't drink too many of them." Gabriella warned.  
"Whatever." he picked up two and handed one to Gabriella.  
Gabriella took a sip of the beer - one can wouldn't hurt, would it? And besides, she wanted to keep Troy company - and settled back into the sofa.  
"This night has been shit." Troy admitted. "Except from dancing with you, that was fun."  
"It was." Gabriella agreed giving him a smile. "We should do it again sometime."  
"I would." Troy began. "But I dunno if Sharpay would be pleased."  
"Oh." Gabriella said. "Wait, is that why you're fighting?"  
"Yup." Troy said simply.  
Gabriella stood up and took another sip of her beer. "Hold this." She said, handing it to Troy. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Gabriella knocked on Sharpay's bedroom door, hoping that she wasn't about to do the wrong thing.  
"Sharpay?"  
"Gabriella?" Sharpay opened the door to find Gabriella standing there. "You are not the person I wanna see right now."  
"I know." Gabriella said. "And I'm sorry. We were only dancing Shar, it didn't mean anything."  
"It's not just the fucking dancing!" Sharpay snapped. She flung the door open and stormed over to her dressing table where she began brushing her hair furiously. Gabriella followed her into the room and cautiously perched herself on the end of the bed.  
"It's the fact that our relationship is completely falling apart!" Sharpay sighed. "He looked like he was having a blast with you but when he's with me he seems so distant! I don't know what I've done wrong!"  
"You haven't done anything wrong." Gabriella consoled her. "He's a guy, give him time."  
"Okay." Sharpay gave a weak smile. "Sorry for snapping."  
"No worries." Gabriella smiled and opened her arms, inviting Sharpay in for a hug, Sharpay accepted the offer and hugged her new friend back.  
"Sharpay, I-" Chad Danforth burst into the room to find the two girls in each others arms. "Woah! Was I interrupting something?" he asked with a cheeky grin.  
Sharpay grabbed a pink pillow from her bed and flung it at him, hard. "Get outta here Chad!"  
"Chill Shar, I was only kidding. I just thought I should let you know that your boyfriend is currently pissed out of his mind. He just drank about 7 beers in ten minutes."  
Sharpay sighed and followed Chad and Gabriella downstairs to find Troy. He had his arm around Zeke and Zeke was looking pretty uncomfortable.  
"And I swear man," Troy was saying with a goofy smile on his face. "When I eat your cookies, it's like I'm eating a bit of heaven."  
"Thanks Troy." Zeke said, pulling himself away from Troy. "Let me go and find you some breath mints."  
"Kay." Troy said cheerily. He turned round and spotted Sharpay watching him. A big smile lit up his face.  
"Shar!" he declared. "How are ya?"  
"Still annoyed at you Troy." she said coldly. "Come on, go up to a spare room and sleep."  
Troy did as he was told, waving goodbye to Chad and Gabriella who had watched the whole display in astonishment.  
"What the hell is up with him?" Chad asked, confused.  
"I have no idea." Gabriella said honestly.

* * *

Troy was dreaming. He was laughing with a girl but he didn't know who the girl was. A huge light shone behind her and all he could make out was her silhouette. Troy was attracted to this girl; all he wanted to do was kiss her and her to kiss him back. Suddenly, the huge light dimmed and the girl was revealed. Gabriella.  
"You shouldn't be dreaming about me." Dream-Gabriella said softly.  
"I can't help it." Dream-Troy said sadly. "I like you. A lot."  
"I like you too Troy." Dream-Gabriella said wistfully. "But Sharpay likes you too and she's your girlfriend. So I have to go."  
"Don't go." Dream-Troy said. He reached out to Dream-Gabriella in an attempt to kiss her but his hand moved right through her. She began to fade away, blending into the background.  
"Gabriella." Dream-Troy said simply. "Gabby."

The party was slowly coming to an end, those who weren't drunk were going home and those who were wasted were crashing in one of Sharpay's guest rooms, and since Sharpay was from the richest family in Albuquerque, there were plenty of guest rooms to choose from.  
Gabriella was tipsy and clumsy, not totally drunk but she thought it would be best to spend the night here, to save herself from any drama with her Mom.  
She opened the door to a guest room but saw the bed was occupied. The occupant of the bed stirred and then sat up.  
"Hey." Troy Bolton said sleepily and a little drunkenly.  
"I'm so sorry." Gabriella whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep."  
"No, come here." Troy said. "I have to tell you something."  
Gabriella closed the door quietly and sat on the bottom of the bed. "What's up?"  
"I'm sorry for flirting with you and dancing with you and getting you into trouble with Sharpay." Troy said sheepishly.  
"Don't worry about it Troy." Gabriella smiled at him. She edged a little closer to him and rubbed his back in a friendly way. "She said you guys were having relationship problems?"  
Troy stared into Gabriella's oh-so-familiar chocolate brown eyes. "A little. I just... It's not as fun anymore."  
Gabriella nodded, understanding. "So end it?"  
"I don't want to hurt Shar." Troy said. "We've been friends since we were kids and we only started dating a few months ago. It was just supposed to be a little thing and then we were all-exclusive. But the thing is, I see her as more of a sister. Not in a perverted way!" he added hastily.  
Gabriella rested her head on his shoulder. "Troy, the longer you keep pretending you like her, the more it will hurt her."  
Troy couldn't look away from her brown eyes. He began to lean in, and surprising both himself and Gabriella, placed his lips on her forehead, cheek, eyelids, nose and then on her lips. Suddenly, the pair were kissing passionately, and they were both enjoying it. They knew how stupid it was but they were too drunk to stop it.  
"Troy, no." Gabriella said breathlessly, pulling away slightly. "We shouldn't-"  
She was interrupted by Troy placing his lips on hers again, hungrily. Gabriella flung her arms around his neck and they both fell back on the bed, unable to stop kissing. Gabriella opened her mouth and Troy slid his tongue in, exploring.  
Gabriella had never done anything like this before, she was usually a good girl. This behaviour had really taken her by surprise. It was like she was having an out-of-body experience, watching herself sliding her hands under Troy's shirt and caressing his upper body. Troy responded by sliding off his shirt.  
'Ohmigod!' Gabriella thought drunkenly. 'His body is amazing.'  
She felt herself being pulled up a little, her shirt also being lifted above her head. She didn't have time to make sense of the situation though, because Troy pulled her back towards him, onto his lips, running his fingers through her hair, down her cheek and onto her stomach.  
"Wait!" Gabriella said urgently and sat up straight, trying to maintain some self-control. "Troy, what the hell are we doing?"  
"Making out." Troy said reaching out for her, wanting to kiss her again.  
"You have girlfriend at the moment." Gabriella protested moving his hands away. "Sharpay?!"  
The mention of that name brought Troy down from the clouds, back to earth with a bang. His semi-hard errection disappeared and he fell back onto the pillows yet again. "Oh shit." He said. "You're right."  
Gabriella sank back onto the pillows too and Troy put his arm around her.  
"I can't believe we did that." Gabriella said.  
They lay in silence for a while, non of them speaking.  
"Gabs?" Troy whispered sleepily. "Have we met before?"  
"What do you mean?" Gabriella whispered back, confused.  
"You look really familiar, ever since I met you I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before."  
Gabriella turned around to face Troy. "I think so too!"  
"But you don't know where?" he asked.  
"Nope. But I wish I did." she smiled.  
Troy smiled back at her and kissed her on the nose gently. They both quickly fell asleep, in each others arms.


End file.
